CHAPTER 258

If Isabel had known that this day would come, she never would have brought Marshall home with her.

She could have just kept herself entertained at Twilight Oasis. Why did she have to bring him home?

Isabel rued the foolishness of her past self.

"Mr. Taylor, please wait a minute…" Marshall called out to Sam.

Sam stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Mr. Taylor…" Marshall's face was ashen and fraught with anxiety. "Could you… could you please ask Miss Taylor to give me the video and photos she took of me…"

He looked over at the man beside Sam. "Your assistant promised me…"

"I did, sir," Eugene Reynolds said at once. "He agreed to come and testify the truth because I promised that we would ask Miss Isabel to hand over the photos and video."

Sam averted his gaze as he could not look Marshall in the eyes.

He was Isabel's accomplice.

If he had cut off all ties with Isabel back then, like how Nigel and Dan did, she would not have the guts or the money to threaten Marshall, keep him by her side, and abuse him.

He was partly responsible for Marshall's suffering.

Feeling guilty toward Marshall, Sam avoided Marshall's expectant eyes and looked at Isabel. "Where are the photos and video? Where did you keep them? Hand them over now."

"Sam, please forgive me, okay? If you forgive me, I'll hand everything over immediately!" Isabel's eyes grew a little hopeful as she tried to bargain amid her sobbing.

"Even now, you still don't feel any remorse for what you've done, huh?" Sam stared at her in disappointment.

He realized how blind, foolish and gullible he had been.

He should have done what Nigel and Dan did—cut off all ties and stop supporting her financially. That way, Isabel would not have been able to engage in such deplorable behavior.

Sam thought that he was simply being a kind-hearted person who valued relationships, but was that truly the case?

His kindness had caused the suffering of an innocent soul.

He was just as guilty as Isabel was.

Sam had never felt as regretful as he did right now.

"Since you show no remorse for what you've done, let's just report this to the police." The disappointed look in Sam's eyes had vanished and was replaced by cold determination. "I'm certain that the police

will be able to find out where those photos and video are, and you will go to prison for imprisoning someone against their will. You can accompany your mother in prison."

"No… don't…" Isabel was shaking with fear as she screeched, "Sam, how can you do this to me? I'm your sister, the person you love the most in the entire world! Sam, how can you change just like that? You can't do this…"

"I can!" Sam's voice was frigid as he retorted firmly, "I'm giving you one minute. If you don't hand everything over, I'm reporting this to the police."

Isabel had witnessed how tragic her mother's living situation was in prison. In a place like that, being alive was a fate far worse than death.

Phoebe had always been a plump woman. Before she was sent to prison, she had tried every means under the sun to lose weight, but it never worked. She would curse in anger, saying that it was all due to genetics and that she would probably never succeed at slimming down.

However, after she was sent to prison, she lost tens of pounds within a month. After two months, she was nothing but skin and bones. Her eyes were sunken in and her skin was sallow. She looked like a zombie and Isabel could barely recognize her.

Every time Isabel went to visit her mother in prison, she would describe how awful life in prison was and would tearfully beg for Isabel to save her.

Just by listening to Phoebe's stories alone, Isabel could tell that her mother's life was truly a fate worse than death. She would rather die than face that kind of life herself.

She was terrified of going to prison and that Sam was serious about reporting her to the police, so she did not dare to continue bargaining anymore. She reluctantly mumbled and confessed where she hid the photos and video.

"Go with him to retrieve them," Sam instructed Eugene.

"Yes, sir!" Eugene replied.

"Do you have any other requests?" Sam looked at Marshall. "If you do, go ahead and tell me. I will do my best to comply."

"No…" Marshall shook his head. "I just hope to destroy the photos and video once I get them back, and leave Miss Taylor for good. I want to reunite with my brother and continue living a normal life."

"She's not Miss Taylor anymore. You can call her Miss Xavier," Sam declared. "I will provide you with a sum of money as compensation. I hope you and your brother will be able to lead a good life from now on. If you have anything else you'd like, you can let me know and I'll do my best to compensate you."

Marshall shook his head again. "No, there's nothing else… If it's possible, I'd like you to promise me something, Mr. Taylor. Promise me that Miss Tay—Xavier will stay away from my brother and me, and that she will never come looking for me ever again." holds © this.

He would be more than satisfied if he never had to see the lunatic, Isabel Taylor, ever again.

"I promise!" Sam declared solemnly. "I swear on my honor that if Isabel ever tries to seek you out or cause trouble for you, you can come straight to me and I'll protect both you and your brother!"

Marshall bowed to him. "Thank you, Mr. Taylor!"

Sam went red in the face. He did not feel like he deserved such respect from Marshall.

"It's only right for me to do this. I'm the one who should apologize to you. If there's anything you need in the future, don't hesitate to come to me. As long as it is within my power to do so, I'll do my best to help you." He then gave Marshall his contact information before leaving quickly as he felt embarrassed.

Sam wanted to be alone, so he drove off from the hospital by himself, without his driver and bodyguards.

After driving around town for a bit, he ended up in Sun Garden.

He sighed as he stared at the towering entrance before driving in.

The guards on watch recognized his car so they did not stop him from entering, but they informed the butler at once.

The butler came out to wait for Sam, and when Sam pulled over, he came forward to greet him warmly.

"Is Maddie at home?" Sam asked courteously.

"Yes, Mrs. Hart is home. I've already informed her of your arrival. Please come in, Mr. Taylor," the butler replied.

As Sam looked around at the splendor of the compound around him that was akin to royal palaces of yore, he fell into a daze.

Before Madeline met Sebastian, no one would have thought that Madeline, who relied on the Taylor family's handouts, would one day become Mrs. Hart, someone whom all of Dusktown had to revere.

The Hart family's household staff treated Madeline the way they treated all the other Harts. This was in stark contrast to the assumptions going around that Sebastian was just toying with her and would abandon her once he found a distinguished young lady from a wealthy family to marry.

Perhaps it would not be too long before Sebastian and Madeline conducted a proper wedding ceremony. When that happened, she would truly be the madam of the Hart household.

Sam was caught up in his thoughts when Madeline walked out of the living room with hastened steps. "Sam, you're here. Is anything the matter?"

"No, everything's fine." Sam walked over to Madeline and looked her right in the eyes as he said seriously, "Maddie, I owe you an apology. I came here today because I want to give you a proper apology. Maddie, I'm sorry. I made a terrible mistake!"

Madeline was taken aback. "Sam, what's gotten into you?"

"I was biased and unfair in the way I dealt with Isabel," Sam said, his voice full of remorse. "Dad and Dan both cut off all ties with her, but I had always disagreed with them on that. I thought that Isabel was innocent and should not be punished, so I secretly took her in and provided her with financial support, but I forgot all about the cruel things she did to you… Back then, I just dismissed it as her being childish and immature. I came up with a lot of excuses for her actions, but now I realized that it wasn't because of childishness or immaturity. It's in her nature to be evil. She's rotten to the core."